A Guide to Marine Coastal Plankton and Marine Invertebrate Larvae

Customer Reviews:

Top notch guide to marine plankton and invertebrate larvae.......2000-09-19

This book, following on the heels of DeBoyd Smith's 1st edition, presents a good selection of line drawings and information about the diversity of more common marine plankton and invertebrate larvae. While no guide to this group of organisms can really hope to be exhaustive in its coverage, this book presents a good overview of the kinds of organisms that are floating around out there.

This book is a great primer to the group. It is not, however, all that useful in doing taxonomic work, but it is a great tool for use in supporting laboratory work involving general identification of plankton. In order to do more specific taxonomic work, however, one needs access to more comprehensive taxonomic keys from the professional literature.

Still, this book would be a great addition to the library of any serious student of invertebrate zoology, marine biology, or oceanography.

Alan Holyoak, Dept of Biology, Manchester College, IN

collection procedures and identification of zooplankton.......2000-02-09

collection procedures and identification of zooplankto

Book Description

This work provide a humorous but informative look at the life, work, and world of Shakespeare. It gives the low down on his life, his major plays, the Tudor theatre scene, and historical background. It focuses on the unusual and bizarre facts surrounding the world of Shakepeare.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent book for beginning Shakespeare students!.......2000-12-05

Filled with humor and illustrations, this book covers a variety of topics about Shakespeare and his time. The author makes it interesting for 9th and 10th graders, although some of the humor is aimed at British students. An excellent overview or introduction, appropriate for History, English or Drama students.

Book Description

This is the second volume of the complete edition of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin. The letters in this volume were written during the seven years following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage. It was a period of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional man with official responsibilities in several scientific organizations. During these years he published two books and fifteen papers and he also organized and superintended the publication of th Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. Busy as he was with scientific activities, Darwin found time to re-establish family ties and friendship, and married his cousin, Emma Wedgewood. In 1842, they moved to Down House, where Darwin was to spend the rest of his life. Viewed retrospectively, the most important of Darwin's activities during the years 1837-1843 was the development and first draft of his ideas on speciation.

Average customer rating:
Per-acids and their salts, (Monographs on inorganic and physical chemistry; ed. by Alexander Findlay)
T. Slater Price
Manufacturer: Longmans, Green and co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General & Reference | Chemistry | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006EU4DI

Book Description

An advanced discussion of linear models with mixed or random effects.

In recent years a breakthrough has occurred in our ability to draw inferences from exact and optimum tests of variance component models, generating much research activity that relies on linear models with mixed and random effects. This volume covers the most important research of the past decade as well as the latest developments in hypothesis testing. It compiles all currently available results in the area of exact and optimum tests for variance component models and offers the only comprehensive treatment for these models at an advanced level. Statistical Tests for Mixed Linear Models:

Combines analysis and testing in one self-contained volume.
Describes analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures in balanced and unbalanced data situations.
Examines methods for determining the effect of imbalance on data analysis.
Explains exact and optimum tests and methods for their derivation.
Summarizes test procedures for multivariate mixed and random models.
Enables novice readers to skip the derivations and discussions on optimum tests.
Offers plentiful examples and exercises, many of which are numerical in flavor.
Provides solutions to selected exercises.

Statistical Tests for Mixed Linear Models is an accessible reference for researchers in analysis of variance, experimental design, variance component analysis, and linear mixed models. It is also an important text for graduate students interested in mixed models.

Book Description

When Querry, world-famous architect, no longer enjoys life or takes pleasure in art, he sets off on a voyage to a leper colony in the Congo.

Customer Reviews:

Another Greene Hero Bites The Dust.......2006-09-01

The fiction of Graham Greene is filled with protagonists who are deposited in exotic locations and confronted by an external evil that puts those men to a test of faith and hope, one that requires them to compare what they have inside to see if they have what is needed to pass from that void of spiritual inertia. Greene also adds religious crisis to his heroes' brew of troubles. The usual result is that his protagonists fail to achieve their desired state of an ordered mind. They tend to remain in a static limbo of paralyzed hope. In A BURNT OUT CASE, Querry is the prototypical hero who suffers from a crisis of lost hope. Querry is a famed architect who suffers from an unnamed crisis that probably has something to do with excessive relations with loose women and a lack of connection to God. We never learn all the details of his life before he shows up unannounced at a leper colony in Africa nor do we need to. Greene inserts bits and pieces of Querry's background, the totality of which paints a more detailed portrait than if he had more fully fleshed out Querry's past. Querry simply shows up at that leper colony, asking to stay, and is willing to perform any menial task that he is given. The doctors in charge quickly figure out who he is and marvel at his apparent readiness to shed his famed background and assume the non-identity of a nomad. Querry is indeed a hurt man, but not the type that usually shows up to be cured, most of whom are called "burnt out cases," because they have endured both physical and psychic mutilation. In Querry's case, the mutilation, though internal, is no less real than that of the other sufferers. The doctors realize this and let him stay. They see in Querry less a mutilated man in need of help than an architect whose skills can help them rebuild their dilapidated buildings. Querry tries to blend in, but in his interactions with both staff and patients, it becomes clear that not only can he not shed his earlier emotional baggage but he is forced to assume some new baggage as well. Querry is accused by a woman of getting her pregnant. She admits to him privately that she did indeed lie but in her own mind the lie was justified. To complicate this charge is Querry's ongoing need to debate whether he needs God to be happy. He decides that happiness or its opposite need have nothing to do with the intervention of either God or the church. The church fathers quickly decide that the paternity charge is reason enough to ostracize him. A subtle irony is that the church fathers and doctors were more than willing to believe the best of Querry without substantiation and were just as willing to believe the worst with an equal lack. The ending, which I shall not reveal here, is one that we have seen before in Greene's other novels. His heroes enter the book as hurt, confused, and seeking inner peace. In the world of Graham Greene, they sadly all too often exit the same way. Sort of like in real life.

burn out.......2006-08-19

A Burnt Out Case - I read this when it first came out in 1962(?) and can't remember it too clearly. The title refrs to leprosy when it's no longer infectious, and this is probably a pun on the burn out old time aid workers felt. The book was full of atmosphere - you felt the heat and steam rising from those sluggish Congo rivers. & the dust and flies everywhere, & the boredom of expatriate wives in the colonies in the days befor email or jets or BBc digital radio. There was a missionary priest in it (obviously, being Graham Greene) who, in a sense, was the equivalent of the modern aid worker. But so different! He was there without remission. The modern aid worker in Africa has danger, therefore an element of excitement, the camaraderie of other workers., a salary maybe. But I felt in his cynical way, Greene was saying to the priest "hang in there, padre. You're doing good in spite of everything.' I sent the book to a young Belgian girl who got iterested in the Congo after reading "The Poisonwood Bible.' The two books went well together. Cheers, Renee Terry

Very short, but very good.......2006-07-17

This was the first Graham Greene novel that I have read, and considering his reputation as a Catholic author, I suspect A Burnt-Out Case is not very representative of his more famous, earlier works (which I hope to read soon). A lot of the reviews here compare this novel to Conrad's Heart of Darkness, but aside from the mutual setting of Africa, I don't really see much of a thematic connection. The novel that I was most strikingly reminded of, actually, was Camus' The Plague. In both novels we see men faced with a world of suffering and disease and their various attempts (religion, philosophy, etc) to combat the senselessness of it all. Ultimately, Greene's novel is a strongly atheistic work, echoing the famous line from Camus' novel (that I can only paraphrase): 'I refuse to love a God that causes children to suffer.' Greene's novel, despite being a slim 196 pages, has a lot more depth and a lot more issues to deal with than this one, however. The main character, Querry, is a fascinating study of the effects of fame on an artist (presumably reflecting Greene's own struggles after his own success), and there are a lot of parallels between physical and spiritual disease.

This probably isn't the best book to start with if you've never read anything by Greene before, but I highly reccomend it, particularly to those interested in philosophical fiction along the lines of Camus, Dostoevsky, Kafka, etc.

The chronicle of a man's consciousness and anxiety.......2006-06-27

A remote leproserie in the Congo is the place where the protagonists meet in this novel by Graham Greene: Dr Colin, Querry, the Ryckers, Parkinson and Father Thomas. In the author's own words, in a letter addressed to Docteur Michel Lechat, the situation in the novel is an attempt to give dramatic expression to various types of belief, half belief and non-belief, in the kind of setting removed from world politics and household-preoccupations, where such differences are felt acutely and find expression. Indeed, exigencies of faith seem to be of little help in a place like the Congo in the 1950s, beset with disease and death as it then was.
The corrupting presence of the journalist Montagu Parkinson who comes in search of the architect Querry and who alters the truth to hype things up is the reason why A Burnt-Out Case continues to be relevant today. This is also why this novel resembles Heart Of Darkness by J. Conrad and parallels can be drawn between Querry and Marlow: both have a sense of moral disgust and inner desolation. Thus Querry retreats to a kind of hell, the leprosarium, and finds a peace of sorts there, a respite that comes to and end with the arrival of Parkinson. Nevertheless Querry himself becomes a burnt-out case in the end, like a leper whose disease has run its course.
Strong, powerful prose by one of the greatest British writers of the 20th century.

Dark Hearts And Greenland.......2006-02-20

Graham Greene novels are like pizza. Even the bad ones are good.
And this one is far from bad. Granted, it's another journey into life's laments, which Greene is exceptionally skilled at, but like the best of
his other work, the journey is filled with interesting sojourners you're
pleased to spend a couple of hundred pages with. And happily, his storytelling prowess and dramatic plotting are both fellow journeymen as well.

In Burnt Out Case, Greene takes us deep into Africa, and the parallels to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness are easily made. But Greene's story of lepers and healers and builders and believers is its own. Replete with the lies, misunderstandings, regrets and revenge that often populate Green's pages, you can rest assured that not unlike life, what can go wrong, will. go But in the hands of a skilled writer like Greene, you consider yourself lucky for having been along for the ride.

Burnt Out Case is well worth a dark trip down the winding river of men's souls.

The Heart of the Matter ; Stamboul Train ; A Burnt-out Case ; The Third Man ; The Quiet American ; Loser Takes All ; The Power and the Glory

Average customer rating:

Graham Greene classics - 7 winners on one ticket

The Heart of the Matter ; Stamboul Train ; A Burnt-out Case ; The Third Man ; The Quiet American ; Loser Takes All ; The Power and the Glory
Graham Greene
Manufacturer: Heinemann/Octopus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

The Human Factor (Everyman's Library)

ASIN: 0905712013

Customer Reviews:

Graham Greene classics - 7 winners on one ticket.......2007-04-22

Seven winners on one ticket - worth a gamble.

Library of Congress listing:

LC Control Number: 77378966
Type of Material: Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.)
Personal Name: Greene, Graham, 1904-1991.
Uniform Title: Novels. Selections
Main Title: The heart of the matter ; Stamboul train ; A burnt-out case ; The third man ; The quiet American ; Loser takes all ; The power and the glory / Graham Greene.
Published/Created: London : Heinemann/Octopus, 1977.
Description: 856 p. ; 24 cm.
ISBN: 0905712013 :
CALL NUMBER: PZ3.G8319 He 1977 FT MEADE

Average customer rating:

A Burnt Out Case
Graham Greene
Manufacturer: The Reprint Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Average customer rating:

Burnt Out Case 1ST Edition
Graham Greene
Manufacturer: VIKING PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Average customer rating:

A Burnt Out-Case
Graham Greene
Manufacturer: Heinemann, London
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Average customer rating:

A Burnt Out-Case
Graham Greene
Manufacturer: Heinemann, London
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Average customer rating:

A BURNT-OUT CASE
GRAHAM GREENE
Manufacturer: PENGUIN
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

A BURNT-OUT CASE

Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

A BURNT-OUT CASE
Graham GREENE
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

A BURNT-OUT CASE
GRAHAM GREENE
Manufacturer: Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Book Description

Edith Hahn was an outspoken young woman in Vienna when the Gestapo forced her into a ghetto and then into a labor camp. When she returned home months later, she knew she would become a hunted woman and went underground. With the help of a Christian friend, she emerged in Munich as Grete Denner. There she met Werner Vetter, a Nazi Party member who fell in love with her. Despite Edith's protests and even her eventual confession that she was Jewish, he married her and kept her identity a secret.

In wrenching detail, Edith recalls a life of constant, almost paralyzing fear. She tells of German officials who casually questioned the lineage of her parents; of how, when giving birth to her daughter, she refused all painkillers, afraid that in an altered state of mind she might reveal something of her past; and of how, after her husband was captured by the Soviet army, she was bombed out of her house and had to hide while drunken Russian soldiers raped women on the street.

Yet despite the risk it posed to her life, Edith created a remarkable record of survival. She saved every document and set of papers issued to her, as well as photographs she managed to take inside labor camps. Now part of the permanent collection at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., these hundreds of documents, several of which are included in this volume, form the fabric of a gripping new chapter in the history of the Holocaust -- complex, troubling, and ultimately triumphant.

Customer Reviews:

Just Ok.......2007-10-15

This book wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. This woman was smart, but the tale could have been told better so that there was a bit more profoundness in it.

Interesting Memoir.......2006-12-27

Edith Hahn Beer was a law student in Austria when the Nazis moved in. In this books she relates the abuses she endured in a work camp. This novel focuses on how she spent the whole time in sort of a denial. While her family spent money to help her sisters and family leave Edith and her mother stayed, due to lack of money and the fact that edith didn't want to leave her boyfriend Pepi.

When Edith realized that Pepi wasn't going to marry her or help her and her mother was missing, Edith decides to go underground. She gets a set of papers from a friend and flees to Munich. There she meets a man named Werner who is a nazi party member. He is very insistent that Edith marry him, even after Edith confesses she is jewish.

Edith spends the rest of the war as a robotic nazi wife. You feel sorry for her and wonder how she could have survived the daily fear and anxiety she faced at being found out. She doesn't really talk much about Werner. She mentions his crazy outburst and supposes that his twistedness is what made him marry her. Edith managed to survive the war and got back her identity when the war ended although it lost her her husband Werner.

I applaud Edith's courage and resourcefulness. It is interesting to read about a jewish person who not only lived among the nazi's during the war but actually married one! However the majority of the book does focus on her life before she married Werner. It more of how one Jewish woman survived the war and had married a nazi to do it.

Easy read and great story.......2006-12-17

This was a great book. For non-fiction it read a lot like a novel and was very interesting. The author is honest in her story and displays her emotions very well. This book shows an in-depth and vivid look at how U-boats survived during the Holocaust and World War Two.

Interesting first person account.......2006-10-13

This memoir is pretty well written and as such is a very quick read. I won't go into the details of the story, as the book is inexpensive and you really should just pick it up to read yourself, since nothing a reviewer could tell you will match up with the actual memoir. Suffice to say that her story is as heartbreaking in some regards as you would expect a narrative like this to be. My only complaint is that it is perhaps lacking a little depth in some areas, specifically in regards to what happened to her after the war, how she reintegrated herself into a post-WWII Europe. I also would have liked more on what she learned about the experiences of people she knew and loved, as well as how her views of events have changed over the years since they occurred. Still, like every survivor's story, this is a valuable addition in my journey to understand the holocaust and its effects on individuals, families, and communities.

A MUST read for people of all ages, backgrounds and beliefs.......2006-09-14

If this fascinating tale weren't true, I don't think I would believe it!

This is a remarkably inspiring and emotional story of one woman's incredible desire to survive the Holocaust, that teaches us not only to free ourselves from judgment, but how fervant our survival instinct can be during the most horrible and trying of times.

I recommend it for readers of all ages, backgrounds and beliefs!

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocust

Average customer rating:

A profound and unforgettable true story

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocust
Edith Hahn-Beer
Manufacturer: JCC Audio Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Holocaust | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust

ASIN: 1893079252

Book Description

6 cassettes, UNABRIDGED. Edith Hahn Beer was a brilliant young Jewish law student from Vienna at the time of the Nazi triumph in Austria. After being forced into a slave labor camp, she adopted the identity of a Christian friend and became a "U-Boat," a Jewish fugitive hiding in the heart of the Third Reich.

Werner Vetter, a Nazi Party member, fell in love with her and even after she told him her true identity, he kept her secret through the war.

The collection of papers documenting her true story is now in the U.S. Holocaust museam in Washington, D.C.

Customer Reviews:

A profound and unforgettable true story.......2003-07-25

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived The Holocaust is an unabridged audiobook detailing the true story of an intelligent Jewish law student who was forced into a slave labor camp during the genocidal horrors of World War II. To survive, Edith hahn Beer had to adopt the identity of a Christian friend and hide. A Nazi Party member fell in love with Edith and helped her remain concealed throughout the war. Edith's story is now documented in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. A profound and unforgettable true story, The Nazi Officer's Wife is deftly narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. 6 cassettes, approximately 9 hours.

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust (Unabridged)

Average customer rating:

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust (Unabridged)
Dworkin, Edith, Susan Hahn Beer
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000ALAKX6

Average customer rating:

The Nazi Officer's Wife - How One Jewish Woman Survived The Holocaust
Edith Hahn with Dworkin, Susan Beer
Manufacturer: Perennial / Harper-collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000W7LU6E

Average customer rating:

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust
Edith Hahn; Dworkin, Susan Beer
Manufacturer: Rob Weisbach Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K3T89G

Average customer rating:

THE NAZI OFFICERS WIFE: HOW ONE JEWISH WOMAN SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST.
Edith & Susan Dworkin. Hahn
Manufacturer: Abacus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OW6HME

Book Description

This pioneering study focuses on the experiences and writings of the surprisingly large number of Prussian, British, and French military observers who witnessed the Civil War firsthand. Luvaas's fascinating account reveals why they came, what they wrote, what their armies learned (or failed to learn) from their reports, and how their writings influenced later European military theorists.

For this edition, Luvaas has added a thoughtful introduction that analyzes why some "military lessons" are learned and others ignored and examines the extent to which such lessons can be applied to subsequent conflicts.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

Customer Reviews:

Eyes wide shut.......2007-02-24

In this fascinating book, Jay Luvaas examines the military observers from England, Germany, and France who came over to America during the Civil War to obtain first-hand knowledge of the fighting tactics and strategies of the Union and Confederate armies, and what they made of that knowledge once they returned home. He concludes that while these men saw and were impressed by much (perhaps most by the important use made of the railroad for transporting troops and supplies), they took very few lessons of the war home with them and felt, in many instances, that nothing of importance could be gleamed from the fighting in America for their own European armies. Luvaas writes, "The fact of the matter is that nine out of every ten who wrote about the Civil War simply carried into their books or articles doctrines carefully instilled by years of training." In other words, they saw things the way they wanted and expected to see them and interpreted what they saw in ways that only reinforced what they already believed. This didn't change until WWI when European officers began re-evaluating in detail battles and campaigns of the Civil War. The chief exception to this was G.F.R. Henderson, the British military historian whose 1898 biography of Stonewall Jackson Luvaas says "deserves a place among the military classics." (A whole chapter is devoted to Henderson.) This well-written and well-informed book clearly points out the risks involved when military leaders rely on preconceived notions even as new ideas make themselves available right before their eyes. Recommended.

An outstanding exploration of military science!.......2000-06-11

Jay Luvaas, a military historian who taught at the US Army War College created a sensational and original work with THE MILITARY LEGACY OF THE CIVIL WAR: THE EUROPEAN INHERITANCE. The book analyzes the tactical, technological, and strategical changes that occurred because of and during the American Civil War. The book further explores how Germany, England, and France either took the appropriate infomration from the Civil War or how they ignored and struggled in subsequent wars. The introduction of the text in itself is a short course of the military history of the American Civil War and the rest of the 19th century military experience as Luvaas recounts what he had learned along with the main European powers. The book is an excellent read that flows quite well and would be worthwhile to those interested in the ACW and military history in general.

Average customer rating:

facts and fear

He is right, but it is too late

Great introduction to the HUGE problem we face

A must read, but how are we to fix it?

This book tells you what you can do help protect your future

America the Broke: How the Reckless Spending of The White House and Congress are Bankrupting Our Country and Destroying Our Children's Future
Gerald J. Swanson
Manufacturer: Currency
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Economic Conditions | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Economic Conditions | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It

The Second Great Depression

The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It: Make a Fortune by Investing in Gold and Other Hard Assets

The Great Bust Ahead: The Greatest Depression in American and UK History is Just Several Short Years Away. This is your Concise Reference Guide to Understanding Why and How Best to Survive It

The Coming Economic Collapse: How You Can Thrive When Oil Costs $200 a Barrel

ASIN: 0385513046
Release Date: 2004-08-03

Book Description

“One day soon, our government will suddenly run out of cash, unable to meet its payments, leaving the United States as bankrupt as any banana republic. We are far more vulnerable than most Americans realize. . . With a debt of $7.3 trillion, if interest rates were to hit the levels we saw 20 years ago, it would take every nickel collected in income taxes just to pay the interest on our existing debt. There would be no money left for defense, or homeland security, or education, or Social Security.

This scenario is hardly fiction. That the United States of America can literally go broke is no longer a fantasy but likelihood—unless we stop the train now speeding us to Armageddon. If we do not get our financial house in order, and soon, our great nation will collapse under the weight of its financial obligations.

I believe we can prevent the catastrophe. But time is short. In the final reckoning, it’s up to us to do what’s needed to save America’s future.”—from America the Broke

The dirty little secret that neither George W. Bush nor Congress are willing to confront—that America’s reckless spending, disastrous deficits, and exploding debt are speeding our great nation to financial ruin.

Imagine a world in which you lose your job because your company goes under, your retirement money disappears, the value of your home tumbles overnight, your bank stops allowing cash withdrawals, and your ATM card is canceled. The price of groceries has risen so fast that you don’t have the money to pay for them at the check-out counter . . . and the country is bankrupt.

That is exactly the future that economist Gerald J. Swanson sees America hurtling toward—unless we rein in our country’s reckless spending. In America the Broke, Swanson, coauthor of the runaway New York Times bestseller Bankruptcy 1995, argues that the United States is on the brink of financial collapse. Thanks to George W. Bush’s two tax cuts, the White House and Congress’ escalation of domestic spending, two wars, and an economic recession, what was a $200 billion annual surplus three years ago under Bill Clinton has become a river of red ink. The White House’s official projected deficit for 2004 is $521 billion—the largest deficit in U.S. history. With a national debt spiraling upward of $7.3 trillion, a huge trade deficit, and personal debt at an all-time high, we are standing at the edge of a financial abyss that could undermine the financial security of our families and our children’s children.

“Deficits don’t matter,” claim Vice President Dick Cheney and other members of the Bush Administration. But the facts revealed in America the Broke paint an alarming picture.

Next year’s projected deficit will exceed the amount all our cities spend on police, fire protection, medical care, and every other civil service in an entire year. It is more than we could save from abolishing Medicare and Medicaid completely.
The real deficit—the deficit the government doesn’t want you to know about—including the hidden funds we “borrow” from Social Security is nearly $1 trillion.
Rising interest rates alone could trigger staggering payments on our skyrocketing debt, soaking up every dollar the government takes in, leaving America bankrupt.

What does this mean for you and me? If the dollar goes into free fall, banks could close, businesses go bankrupt, real estate values crumble, and middle-class families could lose everything they own.

But there is hope. We can save ourselves—if we demand that our political leaders act now to eliminate the deficit and reduce the debt. In a year of deficit denial, America the Broke is a critical wake-up call regarding our government’s reckless deficit spending—as well as a blueprint for rescuing our economy and saving our country.

Customer Reviews:

facts and fear.......2006-06-15

The U.S. is obviosly not a closed economy. Right now, the U.S. debt held by foreigners is so great that it is not in their interest to see the dollar fall, nor would it be good for their exports-the 2001 recession wreaked havoc on their exports. The U.S. if it were to go down, would drag much of the world down with it and makes the issue very complex. As of now interest rates are still low, but rising, and the government will not raise interest rates as high as the early 80's because that will throw the economy into recession and burst the housing bubble. Housing prices have never declined in nominal terms and the government knows that high interest rates would kill the mortgage market, dragging down the banks and thus the economy as well. There is a delicate balance to say the least. This book does a good job of presenting the situation, but the scenario will not be so grim. Germany and Japan recovered quickly after they destroyed themselves and the world in WW2, and the U.S. has not gone nearly that far or will it ever.

He is right, but it is too late.......2006-03-24

This book is very informative and easy reading. Yes, our government has led this country to a brink of bankrupcy. But what will the people do? Will they really write letters to their congressman and join google and yahoo groups and spend their energy to fix our country? No. Most people will just go on complaining and do nothing. Yes, some people will take civil responsibility and do all the right things as the book suggests, but it is too late. I am just being realistic. Like the author says, every great empire comes to death, and a new one begins. America had it's moment of glory and it got too fat. My point is, just as the politicians are corrupt, most people are also corrupt. No one was forced to use credit cards and get into irresponsible debt. We have only ourselves to blame.

Great introduction to the HUGE problem we face.......2005-12-07

I asked my husband what he thought the most important political issue was, and he said "the deficit." He's a pretty smart guy, and even though I was surprised he didn't say something more "exciting" like abortion, the war, or the environment, I thought I would look into it anyway. I got Swanson's book from the library and just couldn't put it down. Swanson succeeded in enfuriating me with this topic. He writes in a very conversational way that is clear to understand for the beginner. And proved for me that, once again, my husband was right! :)

A must read, but how are we to fix it?.......2004-11-15

The author does an excellent job of alerting us to America's fiscal problems, and for those who need a better understanding of them, this is a must read. It is well written and provides realistic scenarios if we fail to fix the system.

But Gerald Swanson describes only the symptom, and like other economists he overlooks the disease (our moneyed political system) and the real cure (public funding of political campaigns). To expect "honesty, responsibility and good government to return to government" is a pipe dream when the fat cats who fund our political elections are paying for just the opposite. What part of "he who pays the piper calls the tune" do we not understand?

Swanson also favors privatizing some of our government functions, and I would agree if we could get private campaign money out of our public electoral system. Private companies can give campaign contributions to control the outcome of their investment; government entities cannot. One need only look at the "privatized" rebuilding of Iraq under Halliburton for evidence of the affects it would have on U.S. taxpayers.

On the health care cost crisis, the author offers only four choices: Raise taxes, reduce benefits, change eligibility guidelines, or continue borrowing to finance Medicare and Medicaid. But there's a fifth and needed action: control the spiraling health care costs which are increasing at double-digit rates! We struggle to find ways of "paying" for health care but continue to allow the medical community to run open loop while building unneeded hospitals, buying excessive numbers of high-tech scanners and ordering medical procedures that are not needed. Physician self referrals have run amok. A single payor health care system is long overdue, but both sides of the isle have been AWOL on the issue and will remain so until the $100 million per year that is given by the medical and pharmaceutical industries is replaced with public funding of campaigns.

That said, this is still a must-read book. But the author and his colleagues must now address the common denominator; the dollar bill. Congressmen are bought and paid for by special interests and they will continue putting them ahead of public interests until the funding of elections is paid for by the taxpayers. For $15 per taxpayer per year we could fund both state and federal elections and eliminate over $2000 per taxpayer per year in government giveaways. Only then will we see balanced budgets, reasonable government spending and a fair tax system. That's a bargain at a hundred times the price.

This book tells you what you can do help protect your future.......2004-09-28

America the Broke is one of the most important books I have ever read. Its conclusions are very disturbing because they are founded on a detailed and systematic analysis of existing facts. Swanson's logic is irrefutable.

In clear, honest and straight-forward language Swanson shows how politicians in their hunger to be reelected have deceived you and me. They have run up over 7.3 Trillion Dollars in Debt. To put this in perspective it would take over thirty one thousand years spending one dollar a second to reach a Trillion Dollars.

He explains specifically the accounting scams that have been used to intentionally hide the truth from us and how seriously we have already been harmed.

Swanson's step by step analysis reveals why you and I may soon be forced to say good bye to our jobs, our businesses, our homes, our savings, our retirement, and our future.

He offers us a solution to this awful mess. He sets forth the specific action each of us can take to force our political leaders to tell the truth and stop spending America into bankruptcy.

Please buy and read America the Broke immediately. Let's take action before it is too late.

Book Description

Offers a multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary perspective. this anthology offers a collection of 33 readings on primate behavior, ecology, and conservation — originally published in Natural History Magazine.

Customer Reviews:

Perfect for undergrads and beginners in primatology.......2000-05-28

This book is a wonderful introduction to primate behavior, ecology and conservation. A collection of articles originally published in Natural History magazine, this book provides a perfect balance of the above topics in primatology. If you are just getting started in the field or you are simply curious about our primate cousins this book is great. If you are a seasoned primatologist, this is a fun weekend read!

An excellent collection of skillfully introduced papers........1998-02-19

Natural History magazine has published a wealth of information about primates, written by leading experts in field research. Students of primatology, and anyone interested in animal behavior and ecology, will find this anthology relevant and informative. These studies demonstrate the diversity of our closest animal relatives and the intricacies of their lives and relationships amongst themselves and with other species.

The writings of field scientists such asChristophe Boesch, Robert Harding, Dawn Starin, Thomas Struhsaker and Patricia Wright cover wide taxonomic and geographic ranges. The editors' glue that effectively binds these essays together is the excellent prefacing overview accompanying each section (Behavior, Community Ecology, Diet, Reproduction and Conservation). These writings demonstrate the skills of biologists in translating field observations into literate and eminently readable images of their primate subjects.

This anthology provides valuable testimony tothe contributions of field studies in understanding our primate kin-- their context in nature, and the strategies they employ for coping with daily life and the encroachments of mankind.

Phillip T. Robinson - Society for the Renewal of Nature Conservation in Liberia, West Africa

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Human Biology, published by Wayne State University Press on February 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1602 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Primate Anthology: Essays on Primate Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation from Natural History.(Review) (book review)
Author: James M. Calcagno
Publication: Human Biology (Refereed)
Date: February 1, 1999
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Volume: 71 Issue: 1 Page: 146

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books